Teenager on drug trafficking charge failed to open phone for police on Sunshine Coast

A Sunshine Coast teenager on a serious drug charge has admitted to failing to open his phone for police during a search warrant.

The teenager faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court last week. Picture: Patrick Woods

A teenager accused of drug trafficking when he was a child is awaiting his fate in the Supreme Court after receiving immediate parole for failing to give police access to his phone during a raid.

The teenager, who cannot be named because he was a child when he was initially granted bail on the drug charge, faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court by video from jail on Friday last week after spending months on remand for multiple offences.

Police prosecutor James Allen said the most serious charge related to a search warrant at a Sunshine Coast home on November 29 last year.

Mr Allen said during the search police found an Apple iPhone and a Google Pixel phone and asked the teenager to open both devices.

He unlocked the iPhone however did not provide access to the other device.

Mr Allen said this refusal to open his phone, which occurred after the teenager turned 18, took place while on bail for drug trafficking while he was a child.

The police prosecutor said the 18-year-old also breached his bail numerous times leading to the search warrant where he contacted people he was prohibited from speaking to.

The teenager refused to open his phone for police. Picture: iStock

The court heard the 18-year-old spent 119 days in custody up to his sentence last week where he pleaded guilty to 15 charges including 10 breaches of bail, two counts of possessing dangerous drugs and one of contravening order about information necessary to access information stored electronically.

Defence solicitor Belinda Robinson said the Fraser Coast-born teen had a prejudicial upbringing and dropped out of high school in grade 10. The court heard he started to use drugs after he was kicked out of home and “fell into the wrong crowd”.

She said he had work lined up as an apprentice once he was released and cut ties with old friends so he could move to Brisbane.

Ms Robinson said since being refused bail, the teenager was subjected to lockdowns in prison and slept on the floor due to overcrowding.

She told the court the teenager was set to apply for bail in the Supreme Court in early April.

Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist told the teenager his refusal to open his phone came with the “obvious inference” that there was something “to hide”.

He however said the teenager still had time to “turn it around” due to his young age.

The teenager was jailed for nine months, with 119 days in custody given as time served. He was granted immediate parole.

Originally published as Teenager on drug trafficking charge failed to open phone for police on Sunshine Coast